Probe focuses on Debbie Clemens' use of HGH for swimsuit issue

Injections of human growth hormone as preparation for a photo shoot are a focus of federal investigators who are probing alleged drug use by pitcher Roger Clemens.

The investigators have received documents showing the delivery of the drug in 2002 or 2003 at the Texas home of Clemens and his wife, Debbie, according to news reports, including the New York Daily News and the Associated Press.

Witnesses say Debbie Clemens used the HGH, but disagree over who injected it. In a statement last February, she said she did, while Brian McNamee, the pitcher's personal trainer, says McNamee did at the direction of Roger Clemens.

She used HGH to prepare for her appearance in a bikini in a husband-and-wife photo in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue.

Clemens is under investigation for possible perjury in telling Congress he has not used steroids or human growth hormone.

A review of hGH use among healthy, normally aging individuals found the only benefit to be a slight increase in muscle mass. The documented adverse effects included soft tissue edema [fluid buildup], arthralgias [joint pain], carpal-tunnel-like syndrome, gynecomastia [breast growth in males], and insulin resistance with an elevated risk of developing diabetes melitus.

Contrary of published claims, neither long-term safety nor benefit has been demonstrated in normally aging individuals. Studies have suggested that ... if anything, use of hGH for anti-aging or athletic enhancement would shorten, not prolong, life.

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